The central issue is that Israel is never held accountable for its errors due to its connection to Washington, D.C.

Israeli politicians are exceptionally good at camouflaging Israeli mistakes in grand rhetoric, vague comparisons, and counter-accusations that never bear scrutiny under the banner of self-defense thanks to continuing American support. European leaders rarely condone the disproportionate military action that has been the Jewish state’s mantra when under attack. These attacks vary between flying rocks thrown by disenchanted Palestinian youth, to suicide bombers. Yet the response often sees conscript IDF soldiers act in an overly belligerent manner, often leading to many dead innocents.

For a country with a population of seven million, Israel exercises a frightening amount of free will and a disregard for world opinion when dealing with its Arab neighbors. The internationally-declared illegal Jewish settlements represent one of the more bizarre situations in present-day international relations which see Palestinians evicted from their homes effectively to make way for Jewish settlements. This is not the manner of a modern-day western democracy that Israeli politicians so claim and aspire to be.

For Turkey, The main question is what Erdogan should do now that Israel’s traditional alliances in the Middle East are crumbling. Turkey has a unique opportunity to punish Israel and seems to be taking advantage of this. Turkey supports Palestinian statehood and has its navy posturing around the Mediterranean. And now, it has on its side an Egypt frothing with anti-Israeli sentiment thanks to the Arab Spring and dead Egyptian policemen.

Israel must realize that the time for its irresponsible behavior is over. Its embassies are not burned down purely because everyone is an anti-Semite (though anti-Semitism is an obvious factor), but because its actions and stubborn attitude on Middle Eastern issues give good reason for Arabs searching for a cause to hate it. America will continue to back the Israelis to the hilt which allows the Israelis to continue acting the way they presently do.